The little princess
by AleksandraDT
Summary: A human baby is left on Edward's door. Will he become a parent?
1. Chapter 1

I watched her grow throughout all these years. It's been 24 years since she was born and as the time keeps passing, I wonder if the love I have for her will ever fade away. She seemed so fragile when I held her as a newborn and now she's almost a woman. For an old vampire like me, humans live for a split second. I've watched many generations come and go.

I wish I could stop time for her.

But that's a dangerous thought. The little princess must live a normal life, get married, and have children and grandchildren.

Twenty four years ago, I would have never imagined I could be this overprotective especially with an ordinary human like the little princess. I was in one of the many residencies I have around the world when someone pressed the doorbell. I don't know what kind of human would ever have the guts to wake up a vampire but whoever did it was clever enough to do it at a sunny day or else, her or his life would've ended at that exact moment. When I opened the door posing as a human, I saw a baby on a basket-like device on my door completely silent looking at me with her big round eyes.

I didn't know what to do at first. I killed many humans for blood but I had principles and I could never kill an innocent kid or worse, a newborn.

But a vampire could never raise a child and even though, I tried to take care of her the first 2 years, I just knew I wasn't doing it right. I grew very fond of her but she needed normal parents so, I decided to give her to a human couple. I knew they had troubles conceiving a child since the wife was sterile. The husband used to work for me and I did some research before giving her. Even so, I made sure she had everything she wanted. I gave her many presents for her birthday and Christmas. She went to a nice school and university, even traveled around Europe for one year after she graduated.

But somehow, she doesn't seem happy today. She's sitting on a bench in the park. I can't deal with her sad face so I decide to talk to her.

"Is there something wrong?" I ask as I get close to her.

She looks at me surprised probably because she didn't hear my steps.

"No." I can see her eyes getting teary

"Alright, dear. You don't have to tell me what's going on but it's pretty obvious."

Inevitably, the little princess bursts into tears. I feel that I have traveled in time 22 years ago when she was just a little child crying and I was a stupid vampire parent.

"Look, is there something I can do?"

Ugh, I can't deal with women crying.

"No... you're just a weird stranger" she sobs.

Oh, sweetie if you only knew...

"My name is Edward Cullen" I grab her hand and shake it. "I'm not a stranger anymore"

A small smile appears for a split second on her pretty face.

"I'm Isabella Swan but everyone calls me Bella"

I knew that already because it was me who named her. I was born in Italy and Isabella was my mother's name but she died a long time ago. I don't even remember how many years have passed since then.

"Now that we aren't two strangers anymore" I sit next to her and I can feel the warmth she irradiates. "What happened? A breakup?"

Whoever made her feel this way won't live another day.

"My grandma just died"

I don't know what to say.

I embraced death long time ago. All the people I knew from my life as a human has been dead for centuries so I haven't had to cope with death for a really long time. It's a shame but I forgot how it feels.

"I bet she wouldn't like seeing you crying your heart out like this" I say "You have to be strong. I bet she's in a better place"

"Well, she spent her last days in the hospital so wherever she is, she doesn't suffer anymore"

I nod.

"So what do you say about getting an ice cream?"

She used to love it when she was little.

"What?"

She looks at me skeptically.

"It's just ice cream" and I add sarcastically "I promise I won't bite you"

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	2. Chapter 2

Honestly, I don't like ice cream. I don't like any kind of human food; it's just vampire nature: Food is just dull for me but blood is different. It can have different tastes, each one is special in its own way. Blood carries a person's essence and I have the priviledge to taste it. It is one of the perks of being vampire. Many decades I go, I thought I was some sort of demon for taking human lives by drinking their blood. But I cherish humankind and my little princess is one example of that. I decided to stop being a hypocrite long time ago and started drinking human blood. I need it. I'm a vampire, it's my nature. I care about human's lives so I don't kill them, I just take enough blood to be satisfied for a few hours. It can be troublesome at times because it means spending more time hunting.

I'm thirsty now.

"What are you staring at" she looks at me with her bright brown eyes.

"Oh, it's nothing. You have some ice cream on the corner of your lips" I use a nap to clean it up.

Her cheeks get red and I can hear her heart pumping faster than usual.

Bella stopped crying a while ago but her eyes are a bit puffy. I feel sorry for her. For not being in her life and handing her over to someone to take care of her. But a vampire can never be in charge of a human baby. I would've loved to have children when I was human but that was another time. I'm a vampire now and my time as a human was so long ago that I can barely understand coping or any other human emotion…

"I'm sorry, Bella but I have to go now." I say as the waitress puts the bill in our table and I slip a few dollar bills. "Just keep the change"

"How much do I owe you?"she says.

"It's fine" I hear her heart rate stabilizing "Well, I need to get going now."

"When can I see you again?" She stares at me eager for an answer.

I wasn't expecting this.

I approached the little princess because I'd never seen her crying like that before. A baby crying is not the same as an adult crying. I was startled and like I did when she was younger, I gave her what she wanted: ice cream. I admit I got attached to her and for that reason, I tried to follow her and help her as much as I could. I suppose the real reason why I gave her to the human couple was because I was not interested in having any kind of relationship with a living person. But has that changed?

"You paid this time. I was hoping I could see you again so I could invite you dinner" and she hurries to say: "That way we can be even."

It seems that her little heart is going to explode anytime; it's pounding so fast. Or maybe I'm just thirsty. I need to hunt now.

"Are you sure you want to see me again?"

She nods.

"Why wouldn't I? You seem to be a nice guy."

My looks aren't of a "nice guy" but of a predator. Humans think they're at the top of the food chain but truth is there are other creatures that they don't know about. They are faster and much more dangerous than them.

I've never seen a lion make friends with a deer. How is this different? I'm in control of my vampire needs, of course. I'm used to be lonely and to have sporadic vampire partners from time to time but it's never serious.

But the little princess is different. She's so fragile that I'm afraid to break her with my touch.

"Alright. Meet me at the same time in the same bench next Monday."

"Can you tell me your number?" she babbles. "I mean just so I can know that you're there and stuff..."

"I don't have a phone."

"You don't?" she looks at my pockets trying to find the shape of a phone "Well, you're… different."

"I guess I am" I say sarcastically."See you then, princess."

I need to hunt before it gets too late. Luckily for me, I can find a junkie lying in an alley a few miles away. Not my favorite because their essence is mixed up with whatever drug they are addicted to but it's close and I don't have time to find another human. Hunting is an art, an art that takes time to be done. I can't afford to take another ten minutes and find a different prey.

Not right now.

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	3. Chapter 3

As I kiss her neck gently, I feel the fragile pulse of her veins. Or what seems to be a pulse. This girl wasn't turned to a vampire long time ago. Her body is probably still getting adapted to this new lifestyle. Maybe that's why I felt so attracted to her: there's still human warmth in her.

We, vampires, do have needs but unlike humans, we have only two: blood and sex. Although, blood is needed to exist, sex isn't. I'm no scientist but I guess the desire of passing your genes for another generation to keep humankind alive is so primitive that it does not go once you're a vampire. Of course, I can live decades without sex but once in a while when I meet a vampire who attracts me as much, it's impossible to resist. Like hunting, lovemaking is an art. An art that can only be learned with practice and I had centuries to practice. I know the woman body like nobody else and I know which spots should be caressed.

She lies in my bed half-asleep like any other vampire. We don't need to sleep but we can pretend. Falling asleep afterwards makes it look more realistic in a way. Maybe I should pretend too.

Suddenly, I find myself thinking of my old human-self. I haven't fully forgotten about the 23 years I spent as a human being but those years are saved is in a foggy area of my brain. After all, human brains were not made to live eternally. At some point, the knowledge and memories I collected as a human stopped being useful for a vampire and they were ditched in some sort of mental trash bin. However, I can't forget the people who made an impact in my life like my father, my mom, or my wife.

Yes, I was married before becoming a vampire.

Her name was Marie. She had reddish brown hair and beautiful green eyes. We got married at what would be considered as a young age in modern times, eighteen, because we wanted to live in the big city and to run away from a destiny in the countryside. Marie couldn't bear children in her womb. Modern medicine would probably fix her but at that time, it was a shame that women could not get pregnant. Yet I loved her more than anything. The reason why I can remember her after all these centuries is because the feelings I had for her were so strong that could never be easily forgotten.

Marie died when we were 22. She was killed in a bank robbery.

I considered suicide after it happened but I caught a deadly disease a few weeks after. I was happy to be sentenced to die. Marie and I would be erased of the world together and nobody would ever notice we were gone. Life would go on and probably a few centuries after, people would remember the victims of that bank robbery or maybe, when the cure of that mortal disease was discovered, the world would remember all the people who were infected and died.

But a nurse didn't want that future for me.

Rose was 300 years older than me but she still looked like a teenager. Her death ocurred when she was 20 and fell from a cliff. She was an easy prey for a vampire but for some reason, he didn't just drink her blood but turned her into a vampire. Rose had been wandering around the world longer than me and this disease made it easier for her to find blood. No need to hunt, no need to do anything. Food was basically served three times a day. She was lonely and bored. Vampires like to mess with humans from time to time because they make them feel alive. She picked me because "it was a pity that such a handsome young man died". We were together for the first few decades until she got bored and disappeared. I was her newest possesion and when I stopped interesting her, she left me for something better. I wasn't angry or mad, I just felt a bit lost without her. But, at the end, it's all about habits. Once you get used to do things on your own, you get over it. Besides, it was new world and I was eager to discover it all.


	4. Chapter 4

I honestly don't know what's going on with me. I'm hiding in the bushes observing the little princess like a creep, like a stalker: She's sitting in the bench we agreed on last Monday. I've been here for twenty minutes already thinking what to do next. I'm not sure if meeting up with her is the right thing to do because: A) It's obvious that she put some makeup on so I might've mistakenly led her on and B) I'm getting a weird feeling out of this. Vampires like to play with humans because it's exciting to see their reactions and like I said before, it makes us feel alive somehow. But I don't want to play with the princess and I certainly don't want to be entangled with a human. The only reason I keep an eye on her is because I feel responsible of what might happen to her. I always felt that she was given to me for a reason and that I need to protect her. It was a bad idea to try to talk to her in the first place.

She turns around and it almost seems like she's staring at me. Heh, she probably knew I was thinking about her a few seconds ago. Her brown eyes are so full of life, so full of... something I can't describe. I wonder what she's thinking, maybe she was thinking about me too. Thinking of what a jerk I am because I stood her up. I'd love to say that I don't care but I do. I even feel that I owe her an apology or an explanation at least. But I can't just show up at her door one day and say "Hey, I'm sorry I stood you up but I'm a vampire and I don't want to mess up you life.". She'd probably call the police or just believe I'm a lunatic.

I know I should leave now but my feet are stuck to the ground. She's like a magnet and I'm inevitably attracted to her.

"Hey" she says as soon as sees me

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I mean people die all the time. It's the nature of life I guess"

She's trying to keep it cool but it's obvious that she's still sad about her grandmother. I thought she was still a kid but now that I think about it, she's 24; therefore, she's one year older than me. I became a vampire when I was 23. How funny.

Or well, how ironic.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing"

It must've been weird for her to see me chuckling when she was talking about death. I just couldn't help it. It's too ironic. She's older than me and time doesn't stop for her. She keeps ageing every second that passes by. Another 20 years will pass and the princess will be playing with her children, soon another 20 years will pass, she'll be playing with her grandchildren and then another 20 years will pass and she'll be dead and lying in her coffin. I tend to forget that human lives are so short that the moment you blink your eyes, they're gone.

I truly wish I could stop time for her.

But then she won't ever live to see her grandchildren or even have children. I would gladly give up my life as a vampire to go back to being human.

"Alright, you're so weird."

"Perhaps you're just used to a certain kind of normal."

"Maybe."

She smiles and I get that weird feeling again. I remember this feeling but it's been ages since I felt it. I felt this way when my wife smiled at me.

"So, what do you want to do now?"

"Well, do you want to get some ice cream again?"

"Nah, let's go get some burgers."

"Burgers? You mean a hamburger?"

"Yeah, that."

I love the little princess; however, I'm not sure as to what kind of love it is anymore. I thought I loved her as my own child but now, I think that might've changed...


End file.
